Recent advancements in mobile computing technology, coupled with increasing demands for “transparent mobility” (i.e., mobility with a minimum amount of preplanning), have led to a proliferation of mobile computing devices and applications. Some of these devices, such as, for example, notebook computers, micro notebooks, etc., can be used for a variety of applications and may thus be considered general purpose devices. Because of the generality of these devices, however, they are not well-suited for immediate use for any dedicated application. Accordingly, classes of task-specific electronic devices, such as, for example, personal data assistants (PDAs), mobile cell phones, digital music players (e.g., MP3 devices), etc., have arisen. Each of these specialized devices is typically optimized for immediate use, although for a limited set of applications. Mobile users often own and regularly use both general purpose mobile computing devices and task-specific mobile devices. Many of these devices are capable of independent communication with other electronic devices, for example, using wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), short-range personal area networks (PANs), etc.
With few exceptions, today these mobile devices are designed for independent use. However, as PANs such as, for example, Bluetooth® (a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc.) become more widespread, it is contemplated that mobile users may employ their electronic devices in a more coordinated fashion. For instance, a mobile user may watch a music video clip on his or her cell phone while listening to a streaming download of associated music on his or her digital music player. This style of communication is often referred to as “multi-channel” communication, since a single logical message (e.g., the music video) may include multiple media types delivered over multiple communication links to multiple end-user devices. Multi-channel communication is different from multimedia messaging (e.g., Motion Pictures Experts Group 4 (MPEG-4)) in that multimedia messaging generally standardizes messages carried on the same communication channel and delivered to a single device capable of reproducing at least one of its components, while multi-channel communication involves coordinating activity on multiple communication channels and/or devices simultaneously.
One of the disadvantages associated with a conventional multi-channel communication environment is that one or more of the communication links needed to access a given message may not be available. Moreover, message latency associated with each of the communication links, which can vary independently of one another at any given time, are typically not matched to one another. When two or more components of a multi-channel message experience different latencies, they will be presented to the user out of synchronism, which is perceptually undesirable.
There exists a need, therefore, in the field of mobile communication technology for an improved method of coordinating resources among a plurality of electronic devices and/or communication links, especially in a multi-channel communication environment.